Sharing your life and the lack of privacy just got closer. Where does the line blur?
The new and upcoming facebook features disturbs me. If we recall, about a year or two ago, facebook was a budding social networking site that some vehemently protested against. Yet nowadays, it's hard to find somebody without a facebook account. all those protestors? -converted too. It was a "social networking" site that started out with the said purpose: to network. But now, networking has been brought to a whole new level of cyber stalking. The ticker box with its instant updates, and the upcoming timeline that is suppose to summarise your lifestory into a SINGLE webpage, all these new features on the popular networking site, disturbs me. But the even more disturbing thing is, i think these are features that people will come to embrace, in time. just like facebook did. While the initial rude shock of the change will probably trigger off some cognitive protest in each of us(because it clearly is WEIRD), in time, the convenience of the feature will take over and before you know it, you'll be using the new feature and not even thinking about it. Often times, it's these little "conveniences" that gets you started on something small, before leading you into something much bigger.
What happened to privacy? why is there a preoccupation to "share" your life and thoughts with the whole world? why is there a need to know what the whole world is doing at every second? What happened to the elegance of things better left unsaid?
The problem is that zuckerburg is probably much too smart for our good. The problem with facebook is that it plays up on the tiny flaws of human nature, and draws you in, because sins are tempting. Facebook plays on the inner busybody in each of us, feeds, expands it, and thus keeps us coming back. The problem with facebook is that it is so artfully designed to give you a good experience, that you don't even recognise it. People like it so much that it becomes a very natural and integral part of life, that nobody stops to ponder about where it is leading them. Why is there no "dislike" button after people rant and rave for it? surely they can hear the feedback, and surely, if we can think of it, they can too. Then why? Probably because it introduces an element of negativity that would decrease your enjoyment of the site. And they wouldn't want that. Because they want us to keep going back.
I don't like where this is going, and i sincerely hope that i am over-compliacting things once again. Maybe it's too early to say.
The new and upcoming facebook features disturbs me. If we recall, about a year or two ago, facebook was a budding social networking site that some vehemently protested against. Yet nowadays, it's hard to find somebody without a facebook account. all those protestors? -converted too. It was a "social networking" site that started out with the said purpose: to network. But now, networking has been brought to a whole new level of cyber stalking. The ticker box with its instant updates, and the upcoming timeline that is suppose to summarise your lifestory into a SINGLE webpage, all these new features on the popular networking site, disturbs me. But the even more disturbing thing is, i think these are features that people will come to embrace, in time. just like facebook did. While the initial rude shock of the change will probably trigger off some cognitive protest in each of us(because it clearly is WEIRD), in time, the convenience of the feature will take over and before you know it, you'll be using the new feature and not even thinking about it. Often times, it's these little "conveniences" that gets you started on something small, before leading you into something much bigger.
What happened to privacy? why is there a preoccupation to "share" your life and thoughts with the whole world? why is there a need to know what the whole world is doing at every second? What happened to the elegance of things better left unsaid?
The problem is that zuckerburg is probably much too smart for our good. The problem with facebook is that it plays up on the tiny flaws of human nature, and draws you in, because sins are tempting. Facebook plays on the inner busybody in each of us, feeds, expands it, and thus keeps us coming back. The problem with facebook is that it is so artfully designed to give you a good experience, that you don't even recognise it. People like it so much that it becomes a very natural and integral part of life, that nobody stops to ponder about where it is leading them. Why is there no "dislike" button after people rant and rave for it? surely they can hear the feedback, and surely, if we can think of it, they can too. Then why? Probably because it introduces an element of negativity that would decrease your enjoyment of the site. And they wouldn't want that. Because they want us to keep going back.
I don't like where this is going, and i sincerely hope that i am over-compliacting things once again. Maybe it's too early to say.
Comments
I saw your statement on elegance of having things unsaid... indeed!